Data Collection on Petermann Glacier

An ice penetrating radar is deployed from a string of four kayaks to survey a section of the Petermann glacier in Greenland. Three scientists, Jason Box, Richard Bates and Alun Hubbard, are working in partnership with Greenpeace. They fit a radar transmitter, receiver and antennas to the kayaks, to obtain valuable data on the processes operating over floating ice shelves. This will reveal more of the complex nature of the ice thickness, basal melt-rates and insight into the breakup at the front section of Petermann. The team paddles the kayaks whilst running the radar, over the carefully selected 25 kilometer course along a meltwater channel which runs down the middle of the glacier's floating ice shelf.07/12/2009